Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther film is already set to have a huge debut at the box office this February. Fandango reports that the first 24 hours of ticket presales for the movie were the largest it’s ever seen for a Marvel movie.

War for the Planet of the Apes is the third installment of the Planet of the Apes series and is directed by Matt Reeves who also directed the second film, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”

“War” continues the story from “Dawn” where Ceasar killed Koba who was on a mission to eliminate humans. Caesar and his camp are challenged by the Colonel (Woody Hareelson) whose mission is complex because it straddles the fence between survival and barbarism. This is part of the film’s brilliance. A deadly virus that is wiping out the human population is making apes smarter and causing confusion on how to approach it from both sides.

The CGI, graphics, and special affects are awesome! The apes are all digitally designed, yet breathtakingly realistic. The facial expressions are both impressive and in tune with script.

I won’t give spoilers, but Caesar’s internal battles give the movie life from an Ape’s perspective that opens introduces so many themes in humanity. I challenges ideology of the penal system, survival, extinction, the hierarchy of the animal kingdom, and man’s role within it.

Overall, the action, plot, and character developments are all amazing. 5 stars.

The Big Sick is a romantic comedy based on true events about an interracial couple that falls in love following a seemingly one-night stand. Kumail is an aspiring comedian from Pakistan and Emily (Zoe Kazan) is a graduate student who struggles to accept that Kumail’s culture encourages arranged marriages. When Emily becomes ill, her parents remain by her side in support of her recovery and which lays an unexpected foundation for a relationship with Kumail.

T’Challa (Black Panther) returns home to the technologically advanced African nation, Wakanda to serve as king. A conflict arises that forces him to manage both identities while maintaining Wakanda’s safety.

Bo is a gifted street magician who assumes responsibility for his little sister when his parents pass away. He begins dealing drugs until his sister is kidnapped and he must use his magic to survive. Screening begins this Friday.

F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton) directs The Fate of the Furious directs the eighth installment of the Fast and Furious series. Cipher is brewing a plot to ignite a nuclear war while blackmailing Dominic Toretto into compliance in her clever schemes. The settings alternate between Russia, New York, and other places in a fast-paced thrill that only this franchise can provide.

An episode from the web series, We the Creators was featured in the 2017 Atlanta Film Festival’s screeningheld at the Druid Hills Presbyterian Church last night. Another screening of an episode will be held on Sunday, April 2nd at the Plaza Theater at 12:30 pm. My Movie Pot interviewed Director Babaca Ndiaye prior to the screening.

“Sword Art Online: The Movie Ordinal Scale ” is set in 2026 and begins by explaining the paradigm shift in the gaming world in terms of virtual reality and augmented reality. To Asuna’s delight and Kirito’s dismay, VR games are becoming obsolete as more people are using a new AR device, the Augma, which transforms the world around them. Asuna is advancing while Kirito still prefers VR. An unexpected chain of events take place when players realize that the game affects their realities more than they bargained for.

The story is original, but has elements of the anime series based upon the “trapped in a game” premise. Asuna and Kirito alternated strengths and weaknesses throughout the film which made it very entertaining. The concerts were great and so were the AR transformations. Nonfans of the anime will be able to follow along as there is a brief summary of previous events of the first two seasons.